Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed in the sport of cricket. The umpire may rule a batsman out lbw if the ball would have struck the wicket but was intercepted by any part of the batsman except his bat. The umpire's decision, however, will depend on a number of criteria, including where the ball pitched, whether the ball hit in line with the wickets and whether the batsman was offering a shot. Lbw first appeared in the laws in 1774, as batsmen began to use their pads to prevent the ball hitting their wicket. Since the 1990s, the availability of television replays and, later, ball-tracking technology to assist umpires has increased the percentage of lbws in major matches. However, the accuracy of the technology and the consequences of its use remain controversial. Owing to its complexity, the law is widely misunderstood among the general public and wrong lbw decisions have sometimes caused crowd trouble. Since the law's introduction, the proportion of lbw dismissals has risen steadily. Statistics reveal that the probability of a batsman being dismissed lbw in a test match varies depending on where the match is played and which teams are playing. ( Full article...)

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